Pursue Sustainable Impact With A Strong Sense Of Purpose

It’s interesting to point out that as of 2019 there is now one woman represented on the top 10 world’s billionaire’s list, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, the only daughter and heiress of Liliane Bettencourt, the family who owns the company L’Oréal. Also note that 6 out of 10 represent a United States nationality. It’s reasonable to predict that in the next two decades this list will change dramatically. It will likely shift to be more diverse including more women, a younger average age, and more representation from other nations. There is something about getting older that translates into giving back. It’s not just having the financial means to be philanthropic, it’s a maturity and understanding of what one deems virtuous and important to them. I cannot speak for any of these philanthropic leaders, but I know what I thought about in my 20s and 30s was much different than what I know put my mind to thinking about in my 40s. This is not so say the capacity for giving becomes greater as one ages versus when they are younger. People tend to give more financially when they have the means to do so, and often that correlates to the accumulation of vast financial wealth over a sustained period of time, often decades. I point this out in part to make a point. The single greatest opportunity you, me and we have right now, today, is to not wait one, two, three or more decades until we feel like we have the financial freedom to do something good. That is a fallacy that holds us as individuals and as a society back from being great.

No Matter How Bad Things Are Right Now

While the financial wealth accumulation of billionaires is awesome, it is also an extreme measure that 99 percent of the people on Earth will ever attain. We have the power, knowledge, intellect, and capacity to be and do great things right here and now. We do not have to wait for permission or for the bank account to amass a fortune. We simply have to surrender our pride and ego to the idea that society thrives when individuals thrive. For individuals to thrive we all need to serve and play and integral role in living and leading a dignified existence. Global change that affects our life and the life of our children are happening now! We need to respect and embrace that fact. By choosing to take action as far as your individual accountability, you choose to engage in a life of purpose and consequence for today and the future. Deferring decisions to take action can increase probabilities for negative consequences in our future. To work for sustainability means continually looking at your life and asking, What can I do to improve this condition? And the condition of those around me? Technological and product solutions exist to create a more just and sustainable world. Today, we have the knowledge and innovation to make incredible advancements in how we conserve and consume natural resources, energy, and water. The question is, do we have the political will, personal temperament, and focused leadership to put solutions in place for the betterment of all of humanity, not just for bettering the lives of a few? Achieving sustainability requires more than vision. It requires an incredible amount of teamwork, collaboration, and contribution.

Playing With Fire

My career has been spent in discovering dignity in business and life. That is, how can individuals and businesses wield their influence in ways that protect, enhance, value, and celebrate diversity of life and all of its forms? The environmental context of business has always been near and dear to me. Since I was a young child, I have been interested in and concerned with ecosystem protection and conservation. I grew up in the heart of the Finger Lakes region of New York State, surrounded by the beauty and wonder of natural resources. During my youth, I spent time exploring the natural environment around me. I fished the lakes with my dad, got muddy in streams and ponds with friends as we looked for frogs, and built forts under the canopy of woodlands. Through it all, I learned to appreciate and have respect for life in all of its brilliant forms. When business sustainability became popularized in the late 1990s and early 2000s, I was enthralled. The idea that business products, processes, and operations can be designed at the onset or reengineered in place to protect, enhance, or restore environmental quality intrigued me. As a result, I invested my undergraduate and graduate education into learning and discovering how people and the planet could coexist. Fast forward two decades and the business sustainability has become more prominent, particularly as the business of sustainability has taken root and created a generation of thought leaders, change agents, and practitioners who, like me, share a purpose of shaping how business can be a force for good. The Paris Agreement attempts to evoke a concerted global response to ward of the threat of climate change.

That'll Be the Day

The B Corp community is rapidly growing. As of 2018 there are more than 2,500 B Corps from more than 50 countries representing more than 130 industries. That we must be the change we seek in the world. That all business ought to be conducted as if people and place mattered. That, through their products, practices, and profits, businesses should aspire to do no harm and benefit all. To do so requires that we act with the understanding that we are each dependent upon another and thus responsible for each other and future generations. Restorative Businesses are companies that proactively choose to design environmental restoration into their products, services and operations. These companies pursue sustainable impact with a strong sense of purpose and typically go way above and beyond regulatory compliance and their social license to operate. Restorative companies do not believe in waste. Instead, restorative companies look at everything as a resource which can be optimized and used more efficiently and productively for the benefit of the enterprise. It is awesome to see how geopolitical and business forces are working together to create a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world. While many would argue that business has a long way to go toward delivering dignity at scale, it is important to reflect on just how far business has come and to celebrate those organizations choosing to lead a more dignified existence.